Nightfall:Into The Den of the Serpent Mother
8:58:19 PM Omniance: June 16th 1:50 AM Arizona-Utah border, Nemo's Secret Lair 9:02:02 PM | Edited 9:02:42 PM Omniance: Nemo: He's walking down into the basement with Yuri to get some supplies. The Rune of Passage on the deck has worn off a little, so he's going to renew it just to be safe. As they reach the bottom of the stairs he looks back at Yuri and smiles a little. The main room in the basement has a widescreen TV with a few game consoles around it. Beside it is a pair of arcade cabinets, Killer Instinct and Binding of Isaac Rebirth. They're the exact same Arcades Yuri and Lucas had in their room. He looks at them and then sheepishly looks back at Yuri. 9:08:28 PM Arbi: Yuri: Killer Instinct? Binding of Isaac? I haven't seen these games in ages... He quickly walks up to the Binding of Isaac arcade machine and looks it over. I can't even remember the last time I played an arcade machine. 9:13:16 PM Omniance: Nemo: He smiles a little wider. After you and Lucas left, mom and dad sold them at a yard sale, so I bought them... He looks over at the video games piled below the T.V. Shane doesn't really play many games... But... I guess I had this idea in my head that one day you and Lucas would be here, and we would all sit around playing games. He turns and heads for a nearby door. No matter how unlikely that was... I guess I found the thoughts of it comforting. He grabs the door handle and there's a loud unlocking sound from the other side, and then he pulls it open. The door moves slowly, like it weights a ton, even though it looks like a normal door. 9:22:17 PM | Edited 9:23:32 PM Arbi: Yuri: What-how- He turns and sees Nemo slowly opening the door to the next room. You bought these from mom and dad? Without waiting for him to respond he goes around to the side of the Binding of Isaac machine and gets down on his knees to check something. He finds a large burn mark on the side from when Lucas accidently almost burned down one of the machines when he was sick. The mark Lucas made... He sits down on the floor with his back against the arcade machine. I never thought I'd see these again... 9:25:02 PM Omniance: Nemo: He smiles a little as he continues to slowly drag the door open. He stops halfway and walks into the next room, he comes back out after a moment with a stick of chalk. They were cheap too, mom and dad really didn't know how much they were worth. He shrugs a little. 9:25:54 PM Arbi: Yuri: He stands back up when Nemo comes back into the room with the chalk. 9:27:17 PM | Removed 9:28:40 PM Omniance: This message has been removed. 9:28:50 PM Omniance: Nemo: Got it. Now I just half-ass filling in the edges of the glyph or something and send you to your doom. He shrugs. 9:32:08 PM Arbi: Yuri: He shrugs with him. Before you send me off to my doom why don't you tell me a little about this snake lady? You said you worked with her, you gotta know something I don't. 9:39:52 PM Omniance: Nemo: If I were to describe her in a single word it would be... Terrifying. I think I said earlier that I got in a fight with one of her sons, so I summoned one of my Plasma Wyrms to finish him off nice and quick, annnnd... She turned into a four-hundred foot snake and swallowed it whole... He looks down. Umm... I don't have a lot of concrete information about her because I never met her in my... You know the time I... Was from... But... She seems to be some kind of ancient mythical... Beast... Her, and her sons, can transform into reptiles with various powers. She's borderline immune to magic, she's fast as hell, and her stare can paralyze you if your eyes meet hers... So avoid that... She has this kind of... Sixth sense, she can see into other planes of existence... She could see the Gemini demon inside of me, for instance... Her senses in general are well above a human's. Enhanced smell, in particular, and I think she has infrared vision too, so she can see in the dark. 9:43:10 PM Arbi: Yuri: She doesn't sound as bad as some of the vampires I've met... a few of them could see me even when I was invisible. 9:44:58 PM Omniance: Nemo: I haven't met very many vampires, but I know that she could probably beat Ricky in an arm wrestling match... Basically, don't try to fight her. She's like that boss in a video game, where you just have to run... You know... Like Nemesis from Resident Evil, or... Pyramid Head... We currently don't have a way to... Hurt her. 9:48:42 PM Arbi: Yuri: Now I just have to worry about her enhanced smell. He sniffs himself. I'm gonna go take a shower... He walks past him and pats his shoulder. Try not to half-ass that glyph, lil bro. 9:52:29 PM Omniance: Nemo: He smiles when Yuri says "lil bro". Kit: He's standing at the top of the stairs as Yuri walks up to the main floor. He yells down at Nemo. Are we getting that clay or not? Nemo: Oh-right! Yeah, let's go! Kit: He looks at Yuri as he gets to the top of the stairs, then looks back at Nemo, who is still standing down there looking up at him. ...Well? Nemo: Oh-right... He quickly runs up the stairs. Kit shakes his head and Yuri can see him roll his eyes as he turns away and walks towards the front door. 9:54:37 PM Omniance: About thirty minutes later... Nemo, Kit, Yuri and Ricky are all standing outside on the patio, a new glyph drawn onto the cement. Nemo: So everyone knows what they're doing? He looks back and forth at Kit, Yuri, and Ricky. 9:58:50 PM Arbi: Ricky: He standing beside Kit. You're making us dig up an old lady. I think we got it. Yuri: He's wearing a dark black and blue shirt with jeans, along with one of Nemo's bandanas over his nose and mouth. He nods to Nemo. I'm ready. 10:00:21 PM Omniance: Nemo: He looks at Ricky. Try to get her hand if you can. He looks to Yuri and holds up one of his silvery talismans. If something goes wrong, you squeeze this really hard, and you'll appear right back here. 10:02:28 PM Arbi: Yuri: He takes one of the talismans and looks it over. This'll make getting out a lot easier... He slides it into his pocket. Thanks. 10:03:45 PM Omniance: Nemo: He looks at Kit and Ricky, and holds out another one. For you guys too. Kit: He immediately covers his nose with his sleeve as Nemo holds it towards him. Nemo: ...Right. He looks to Ricky and almost begrudgingly holds it out to him. 10:05:19 PM Arbi: Ricky: He looks at Kit when he covers his nose before he takes the talisman from Nemo and puts it away. 10:06:51 PM Omniance: Nemo: Squeeze it, and both of you should teleport back here. Kit: He shakes his head. How long do we have until that demon finds us here? Nemo: He shrugs. Once he figures out we're not in the city anymore, he'll head straight here, I'm sure. I'd say we have about a day at most. 10:09:03 PM Arbi: Yuri: I don't think I'll get a second chance at this anyways. He steps onto the glyph. Wish me luck. 10:10:34 PM Omniance: Nemo: He nods slowly. Just remember to get in, get the book, and squeeze that the second it's in your hands. He takes a deep breath. Day job. Yuri instantly vanishes. 10:14:57 PM Omniance: The patio and desert vanishes instantly as Nemo finishes what he's saying, and Yuri is suddenly standing on a sidewalk in the dark. About half a block ahead he can see Natalya's towering castle, most of the inside lights are off, but the high walls that surround it are still well-lit. It looks almost like a fortress. 10:20:30 PM Arbi: Yuri: Not wanting to waste anytime he starts heading towards the fortress, turning invisible as he does and muffling his footsteps completely. The first obstacle in his way is the massive wall that completely surrounds the fortress, the large gate in the front obviously locked. He steps right in front of the wall and looks up, a black chain flies out from the wall's shadow and he grabs it. It pulls him up to the very top of the wall, allowing him to climb up and get a nice view of the massive yard and building. 10:28:13 PM Omniance: The courtyard is large with tall hedges. There's a path that leads to the large front doors, but on the right side of the house is a large poolyard area with smaller doors, which almost look like private entrances into the east wing of the huge mansion. 10:32:49 PM Arbi: Yuri: Using another black chain he lowers himself down a few feet before quietly landing on the grassy yard. He notices the private entrance and decides to take a look around there, quickly heading for the pool area. Even while running he moves silently, allowing him to get around fast. 10:35:04 PM Omniance: There's no windows on the ground level in this area, just a tall brick wall with. Each of the doors are locked, but they're not exactly heavy-duty doors, pretty normal side doors. 10:43:34 PM | Edited 10:45:09 PM Arbi: Yuri: He tries each door but none of them were left open, not wanting to make too much sound by breaking the lock he takes another look around and sees a patio on one of the higher floors. Just like before he drops down a black chain and uses it to move up the building's wall, walking up it until he almost reaches the top. He listens for anyone nearby before looking around. 10:46:24 PM Omniance: He can't hear anyone, and most of the lights are out. If anyone is inside the house they're asleep at this hour. 10:48:28 PM Arbi: Yuri: He reaches the top of the patio and gets up, quickly getting over the railing and looking around the patio before he walks up to the glass door. Before checking if it's locked he looks inside to see if anyone's inside. 10:50:47 PM Omniance: There's a large bed, and it looks like someone is sleeping on it. Whoever it is, they have the covers pulled up over them and they're wearing a sleeping blindfold. There's a dim blue glow coming from the bathroom, a nightlight. 10:51:56 PM | Removed 10:54:40 PM Omniance: This message has been removed. 10:53:51 PM Arbi: Yuri: He notices the person sleeping in the bed, though he isn't scared since Natalya's room isn't on this side of the fortress. He reaches down and tries turning the doorknob. 10:54:31 PM Omniance: It's unlocked, likely because it's on a balcony that can't easily be reached. 10:56:48 PM | Edited 10:58:05 PM Arbi: Yuri: He smiles and opens the door, stepping inside before he slowly closes the door behind him to make sure it doesn't wake the person up. Not wanting to stick around for them to wake up because of a bad dream he makes his way towards the door that leads into the hallway, unlocking it from this side and stepping out into the hall. 10:59:00 PM Omniance: To his left is a stairway that leads up to a balcony-like area. To his right is another door, and ahead is a wide balcony-hall that leads down a flight of stairs into the massive foyer. 11:02:24 PM Arbi: Yuri: He almost wants to try the door to the right but he remembers he shouldn't be stealing anything, even though these people are probably some of the richest people in the world. He's about to head down the flight of stairs but he can't help himself and he tries the door to the right. 11:03:23 PM Omniance: It's unlocked, and opens into a short hall with windows on both sides, and a single door at the end. 11:04:50 PM Arbi: Yuri: The door at the end of the hall catches his attention, since it's only a small distraction he decides to walk across the small hall and tries opening the door. 11:06:14 PM | Edited 11:07:44 PM Omniance: It's unlocked too, and opens into a large bedroom. Likely the room of one of Natalya's younger sons, it's two floors, and has everything a typical young man would want inside it. A TV, stereo, couches, an expensive gaming computer, a large walk in closet, which is mostly empty, and other things. There's even a small kitchen and microwave directly to the right as Yuri walks in, with a minifridge. 11:27:19 PM | Edited 11:28:19 PM Arbi: Yuri: He takes a look around the two story bedroom but the more he sees the more disappointed he becomes, it's all expensive stuff but Nemo already has most of this stuff. He notices the massive closet and takes a look inside, the green clothing catching his attention. He oddly remembers some of this clothes in the laundry basket back in Lucas's apartment. He shrugs it off before heading over to the kitchen, just out curiosity he opens the mini fridge and looks inside. 11:28:40 PM Omniance: All there's in there is two boxes of frozen pizza bagels in a small compartment, and a single soda can. It looks like they've been in there a while. 11:31:05 PM Arbi: Yuri: After seeing the gaming computer, the frozen pizza bagels don't surprise him. He decides to get back on track and heads back out, leaving the bedroom and walking through the small hallway. This time he decides to take the stairs that lead down. 11:34:25 PM Omniance: As he walks down the stairs he sees Natalya, standing on the opposite side of the foyer, looking down into it. Her eyes catch the light like and animal's as they dart around, looking back and forth. It's like she knows something is wrong as she moves closer, leaning onto the banister. There's a quiet hissing sound that seems to run through the house. 11:41:40 PM | Edited 11:43:13 PM Arbi: Yuri: He's caught a little off guard, he didn't think Natalya would be looking around for him already. Even when he thinks back he's sure he hasn't made any mistakes, besides taking the short detour. He remembers Nemo saying something about a sixth sense, could she be somehow sensing him similar to the Mexican sisters? At this point it doesn't matter how she's doing it, she's in his way and he needs to get to her room. Just when he's about to try to sneak around her he suddenly thinks of something and smiles, quietly heading back towards Chris's room. 11:45:28 PM | Edited 11:46:14 PM Omniance: Natalya: As Yuri thinks of something, she seems to suddenly be on the landing, looking towards the front door. Her shadow stretches far across the entire room as her black gown and long golden hair almost glows in the dim light from outside. She narrows her eyes, tilting her head strangely. The hissing sound warps as it grows slightly louder. Her voice, cold and calm, echoes into the loud space. You're quite good at hiding. She narrows her eyes. Whoever you are. 11:50:22 PM Arbi: As Natalya continues to look around for Yuri an old familiar smell seems to suddenly be filling the air, the same pizza bagel smell she remembers when Chris used to live here with her whenever he had his girlfriend over. 11:51:42 PM Omniance: Natalya: Her head turns, instantly, and she quickly glides up the stairs, her long dress trailing behind her. In a few seconds, despite not looking like she's moving very fast, she's already moving down the short hall to Chris's room. 11:52:10 PM Arbi: The door to Chris's room is locked. 11:53:28 PM Omniance: Natalya: She rips the door nob right out of the door and then pushes it in, looking to the right towards the microwave. She stands in the doorway as her eyes turn and scan the room silently. 11:58:09 PM Arbi: The pizza bagels are still cooking in the microwave, it looks like there's ten seconds left until they're done. Immediately she notices something is off, she catches the sound of a quiet breeze coming from the upper floor of Chris's bedroom. AM Omniance: Natalya: She looks up towards the source of the sound, and tilts her head slightly. As she does this her pupils constrict to reptilian vertical slits. She seems to listen intently for a moment as the microwave counts down beside her. She narrows her eyes, still listening, and just as the countdown on the microwave is about to finish a snake-like tail whips out from under her long gown, moving with the speed of the blink of an eye, and shatters it to pieces, causing it to spark several times before it goes out. She turns and leaves the room, heading back down the hall. AM Arbi: Meanwhile... AM Arbi: Yuri: He opens the upstairs window and finishes putting the pizza bagels into the microwave before closing the little door on it as quietly as he can and turning it on. Luckily the fortress is big enough so that the sounds are not easily noticeable. Knowing he doesn't have much time left he runs out and closes Chris's now locked door behind him and heads back into the Foyer. Knowing she'll smell the pizza bagels soon he waits for any sudden movements from her before he runs forward and jumps across the railing, landing on the landing silently where Natalya just was. It only takes him a second to recover before he gets back up and runs up the stairs towards the west wing where her bedroom is. AM Omniance: Natalya: As she makes her way back out into the foyer she looks around, knowing that he's given her the slip. It's like she can somehow since his general vicinity within her large house. She slowly rises four feet off the ground, and her hands crack as they grow slightly larger and the ends of her fingers sharpen into large silver claws. Her lower half becomes a snake-like tail that extends nearly ten feet behind her. She then leaps over the banister, landing in the middle of the foyer, where she looks around to each of the adjacent rooms on the first floor, her head and upper body darting as quickly as a person's eye would move. As she looks to the kitchen she stops, tilts her head, and then immediately looks up to the balcony that looks down from her room. Her eyes glow like an animal's and a long forked ton flicks from her lips repeatedly. AM | Edited 12:38:57 AM Arbi: Yuri: He looks around Natalya large expensive bedroom but doesn't waste time admiring anything. Having to work fast he tries to the desk first and checks every drawer. AM | Edited 12:40:08 AM Omniance: The drawers are full of jewelry and combs, not much else. Standard things you'd find in any room. AM | Edited 12:41:27 AM Arbi: Yuri: He looks around at the bookcases but decides that she wouldn't put something like that away in such an obvious place. Avo's book is more important, it would need to be kept somewhere very personal and secret. He runs up to her bed and tries looking under her pillows. AM Omniance: There's a key under the pillow. Large and heavy looking, like it's made out of iron. Natalya: She leaps up the entire two floors, over the banister and lands with a quiet thud in front of the door to her room. Her long tail coils behind her, leaning against the railing as it catches up to her torso, causing it to creak loudly as it strains against the weight. AM | Removed 1:45:51 AM Omniance: This message has been removed. AM Arbi: Yuri: He grabs the large key, having not seen any container he quickly looks around the room for something he can fit a key into. While he's looking he suddenly hears loud creaking coming from just outside the room. He suddenly remembers that he used to hide things under his bed all the time so he tries looking down there. AM Omniance: There's nothing directly under the bed. It's actually completely empty, strangely. AM | Edited 12:56:03 AM Arbi: Yuri: Feeling anxious as his doom approaches the bedroom he immediately tries looking in front of the bed for anything odd that sticks out. AM Omniance: There's nothing out of the ordinary anywhere. Natalya: She slowly glides into the room, looking like her normal human self. Her eyes dart around quickly as she stands in the doorway. AM Arbi: Yuri: Not wanting to get cornered at her bed he moves away from it to the front where the bench is. His heart is beginning to pound faster, if it wasn't for his muffled sounds she would surely hear him. With not many places left to look with her in the room he looks the bench over and the strange design on it. AM Omniance: Behind the bench he notices a small door with a large old-fashioned lock. The platform her bed rests on appears to have a compartment in it, and even at a glance Yuri can tell that the key's large size matches up with the lock. Natalya: She narrows her eyes at her pillows. The library burns down, and you appear to take the only book of worth left. A tail whips out from under her dress and slams through the bench, breaking it in half with a loud clatter. It whips a second time and shatters the two halves into splinters as she knocks it away to the right, sending the wood tumbling across the floor. ...I could use a young man of your ability in my employ. Despite the fact that she hasn't caught him, it's disconcerting that she's slowly picking up on his traits, male, young, etc. She looks to the compartment, seeing that it's still locked. There aren't many who get passed me so easily. She looks around the room. She seems to know Yuri is in here, but not exactly where he is. Though you're cornered now. The door to her room slams closed as her tail slithers away from it and moves back under her dress. AM | Edited 1:16:37 AM Arbi: Yuri: He eyes the tail and realizes it's too fast and that if he tries to open the compartment she'll hit him before he can even turn the key. Carefully he causes one of his black chains to come out behind the fireplace in the room to scrap against it on the other side ever so slightly before it slides back into the shadows. AM | Edited 1:20:16 AM Omniance: Natalya: She immediately turns and leaps towards the fireplace, slamming into it and then slithering around to the other side. As she drags her tail behind her it coils up around the pillar the fireplace is set into. AM Arbi: Yuri: His eyes widen and he immediately pushes the key into the hole and turns it, opening the compartment and grabbing the book. Too scared to see her reaction he brings down five black chains between him and her as he squeezes the talisman in his hand. AM Omniance: Natalya: In an instant she tears apart the pillar she's wrapped around, reacting with inhuman reflexes, and flies straight through the black chains as they're coming down, as if they weren't even there. Yuri feels her hand slam into his back as he grabs onto the book. Her grip isn't good because she can't see him, but her other hand immediately darts out and grabs his waist. She pulls him away from the compartment and sends him flying across the room. Yuri is suddenly sent slamming into the windows of Nemo's house. He bounces of them, as they're apparently made of very durable glass, and hits the concrete on the patio. AM | Edited 1:34:33 AM Arbi: Yuri: He groans in pain as he feels like a car just hit him, everything hurts but the adrenaline keeps him going and he quickly backs away from where Natalya was standing. It takes him a second to realize he's back at Nemo's house. Feeling too weak to stand up he lays his head on the ground as he tries to relax. Fuck... AM Omniance: Nemo: He bursts out into the patio suddenly, looking around. He sees blood on the window and looks down to Yuri. Yuri?! He runs up to him. Are you alright!? AM Arbi: Yuri: He closes his eyes more. The lights...! AM Omniance: Nemo: He runs back inside for a moment. The lights on the patio turn off and he runs back out, kneeling down next to Yuri. What happened? AM | Edited 1:37:34 AM Arbi: Yuri: The lights going out feels almost like someone at the hospital giving him drugs, he's able to relax easier now but he's still injured. I got the book... but she grabbed me and threw me. He keeps his eyes closed. I think I'm bleeding... AM Omniance: Nemo: ...Yeah. He slowly reaches over to Yuri's waist, where she grabbed him. This is probably gonna hurt, but I better do it now before the adrenaline wears off... He slowly pulls a long silver claw from Yuri's side. AM Arbi: Yuri: He closes his eyes even tighter and grinds his teeth as he feels him pulling out the claw, his eyes quickly becoming watery as he holds back from screaming in pain. AM Omniance: Nemo: I'll go get the first aid kit! He holds up the claw and looks at it as he runs back inside. AM Arbi: Yuri: After his breathing slows back down he opens his eyes and grabs the book, raising it up a little. Despite the pain he's in it was all worth it. He smiles at his accomplishment before closing his eyes again.